Compares theoretical underpinnings of three strands of feminist pedagogy--psychological, structural, and poststructural--in relation to four themes: knowledge construction, voice, authority, and positionality. Identifies five insights of feminist pedagogy: gender as category of analysis, gendered nature of experience, instructors' positionality,…

Interviews with 20 people involved in Wiccan communities of practice revealed a trajectory of participation from the periphery to the center of the group, experiential learning that combines formal and intuitive knowledge, and a process of identity development in becoming a witch. To an extent, the community's marginality shaped learning and…

Reexamines critical theory as a response to Marxism and repositions ideology critique as a crucial adult learning process. Argues that a critical theory of adult learning should focus on how adults learn to recognize and challenge ideological domination and manipulation. (Contains 31 references.) (SK)

Adult self-directed learning is considered a process of self-instruction. This concept is inadequate because it fails to account for persistence in learning and excludes adults unable to plan self-instruction. These inadequacies can be addressed by studying self-directed learning as it relates to the learner's personality. (Author/CH)

The authors discuss the concept of life-world. Transformation of the life-world is analyzed and three developmental stages are distinguished: (1) the self-evident, (2) the threatened, and (3) the transformed life-world. The importance of this transformation in relation to adult education is explored and the developmental stages related to the…

In the areas of adult development and adult learning, research is seldom confined to observable behavior. Therefore, documentary records of human experience should be used. (JOW)

A narrative inquiry into the lives of nine environmental activists in nonprofit organizations depicted the role of learning in sustaining their commitment to and passion for the work. Resulting themes suggest they recognize their work as a calling or vocation. Transformative learning plays an integral role in sustaining commitment and passion.…

As a means of facilitating adult development, autobiography is based on (1) memory--an element in the construction of meaning in experience--and (2) imagination--the expression of what people believe themselves to have been and to be. Through autobiography, the self is something to be imagined and constructed. (SK)

This article explores the influence of Grundtvig on U.S. adult education by summarizing the ideas of major adult education philosophers such as Lindeman and Knowles and the lifelong learning philosophy of Grundtvig. This analysis indicates that Grundtvig has been largely unread and unacknowledged, although his impact on Lindeman has indirectly…

Interviews with a village chief, 6 key informants, and 38 residents of rural farming villages in Senegal showed how sociocultural norms and values influence adult learning in terms of what was learned, why, when and from whom. Hands-on learning and practice were preferred. (SK)

In this article, it is argued that capitalism and empiricism are dominant and implicit social paradigms that profoundly affect adult education in the United States in often deleterious ways. (CT)

Knowledge about a culture is best understood as situated cognition, that is, contexts are inseparable from cognitive processes. Learning about a culture is similar to learning about a practice; both require new ways of perceiving, interpreting, and communicating experience. Successful learning depends both on individual factors and on access to…

Self-directed learning experiences of 13 women with breast cancer were explored. Learning motivations included overcoming fear, needing to understand, and being able to make informed choices. They used print, Internet, networks, and support groups. They had difficulties locating resources and dealing with emotions. Learning outcomes included…

Examines differences among types of critical reflection, the role of critical reflection of assumption (CRA) in the transformative theory of adult learning, and philosophical foundations of CRA. (SK)

Contrasts Western traditional objectivism with the interpretist paradigm explaining cognitive processes. Describes the transformation theory of adult learning based on the emancipatory paradigm. (SK)